My Days of Mercy is a 2019 drama about the daughter of a man on death row who falls in love with a woman on the opposing side of her family’s political cause.
Here’s a movie that is surely going to drive a wedge through its possible audience, on one side a convincing, emotional drama about honest human connection and the other a story of manipulation in seeing that connection worn out. Director Tali Shalom-Ezer‘s earnest little effort is not without some sensational, sometimes deeply affecting moments, made so by a pair of genuine performances, but it’s also a little sticky, trying very hard to be more than what it is, sometimes overcommitting to its heartfelt sensibilities.
Traveling about in an old Winnebago, forlorn young Lucy (Ellen Page) rides with her older sister Martha (Amy Seimetz) and their younger brother Ben (Charlie Shotwell). Where are they going? To prison of course, as part of an anti-death penalty organization that stages events outside the walls. They have personal reasons for their efforts with their father Simon (Elias Koteas) on death row for killing his wife, though naturally, his children believe him innocent. One day, Lucy spots a young woman on the other side of the protest. She is Mercy (Kate Mara), a lawyer who is also connected to the death penalty, an inmate is about to be executed for murdering her police father’s partner. There are sparks between the girls, even as they stand with polar opinions, the two finding passion and sex the freedom they both desire. But how long can it last?
Make no mistake, this is an acting tour de force from both women, especially Page, who has long taken risks in finding more unconventional parts. The chemistry between them is raw and authentic, with nothing false about anything in their increasingly complex relationship. Both Page and Mara dive off the deep end in finding some weight and consequence to their turns in all this and while the movie takes itself far too seriously and slips into melodrama seemingly only for the sake of it, it’s hard to walk away from it and not feel something for what these actors do.
While the death penalty debate is on the docket, the film doesn’t really pick sides and rarely gets all that deep in it, the story more focused on the impact of said debate on the girls. It’s the right choice, even as we are hit with plenty along the way that keeps the fight on boths sides raging. What this does though is allow tricky bits to work their way into the romantic narrative and this keeps the tone fluctuating with hints of humor riding alongside some heavy drama. It doesn’t always work, and with the film sort of staying in limbo on whether to get truly embedded in the themes, it’s left to Page and Mara to carry the whole project.
Fortunately, they seem to know that, with Page really pushing herself to come up with a few hard hitting moments. The story nearly derails in the third act but manages to keep rolling, recovering enough to make this sort of a somber experiment that may not have legs sturdy enough to stay relevant all that long but is worth a look for what these two women offer.